An enormous boost to Ghana’s aim to accelerate its pace of renewable energy came yesterday with the opening of a 16.82 megawatt rooftop solar plant in Tema.
Built for $17 million, it is the largest single roof top solar plant in Africa and is owned by LMI Holding Company Limited.
The clients located within the Tema Free Zone Enclave (TFZE) industrial zone would receive the distributed solar power.
Also referred to as the Mega Warehouse Rooftop Solar PV Project, it would emerge as a national leader in sustainable renewable energy development.
The project, which covers 95.745 square meters (20 football fields), is expected to provide 24.7 gigawatt hours of sustainable energy annually.
The initiative, which was funded by the International Finance Corporation (IFC), would change the industrial landscape of the nation by focusing more on renewable energy.
When he commissioned the project, Mr. Herbert Krapah, Minister of State for Energy, praised LMI Holding for their accomplishment and for placing it just outside TFZE.
According to him, the initiative is in line with government energy goals to improve industrial clients’ energy security.
He said that access to solar energy would also be made possible, giving people clean, dependable, and affordable power sources.
He praised the IFC for financing this project as well as others from LMI and urged the organization to extend the same generosity to other private solar energy firms.
Mr. Krapah claims that in addition to creating jobs, the project would give young people confidence-boosting skills training.
Adiai Opoku-Boamah, the managing director of LMI Holdings, emphasized that all of the engineers and technicians on the team are Ghanaian, demonstrating the ability of the country to produce high-caliber work.
According to him, companies in Tema’s Free Zones Enclave that benefited from the plant’s electricity would be able to show off their green credentials globally and raise the competitiveness of their goods, especially those that were exported.
While LMI Holdings was proud of its accomplishments, Mr. Opoku-Boamah stated that it was merely the beginning in the field of producing renewable energy.
He declared that by 2030, the corporation hopes to produce up to 1000 megawatts of renewable energy.
For this reason, LMI Holdings has acquired a 2,300-acre land bank in the Greater Accra Region in Dawa, close to Ada, to be turned into a solar park.
He stated that the corporation plans to extend its renewable energy program and invest over USD 1 billion in the local economy over the next six years.
Source: newsthemegh.com